When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This statement proved to be something of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his first summons to the senior England team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible England player is a true throwback, a story rarely told in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, never mind featuring in the Premier League and playing for the national team too,” Scott said previously.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?
Developing in the lower tiers
His path in football has not been a typical one.
He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ academy setup starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to his 13th birthday, though, they released him. Bournemouth were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he opted to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was becoming overwhelming,” he explained.
“All I desired to relax at home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. To have that little bit of youth again was a thing I really needed.
“To gain a bit of confidence by returning and playing island football was huge for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial things that got me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the side because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising start in men’s football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” said the player. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the next day I was with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
Within a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against Luton.
Scott made eighty-three league appearances for the club while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wide defender – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – such was his adaptability and flexibility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.
With his skill to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and national team playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he’ll play for his country and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the game,” his former manager, the player’s manager at the club, stated last year.
Within three months after, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder endured a difficult first season with the Cherries, having to wait until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly several months.
“There was quite a good run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was yet another obstacle and it was turning out to be a pretty bad year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and managed to get himself fit for the tournament.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, developing a strong partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun this season equally as strongly for his club, playing in every game to guide them to the top five in the table.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” the player stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, improving every day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
